Evaluating the Impact of FOI on Local Government

August 2009 - November 2011

This will be the first systematic study of the objectives, benefits
and consequences of FOI and English local government. The study will
evaluate the impact of the legislation by speaking to selected
officials who work with it across 15 different local authorities and
conducting a survey of FOI officers in local authorities across
England. The project will also survey requesters who use FOI and
interview local journalists and analyse media articles that report FOI.

Local government in Britain has been a focus of more than two thirds
of all FOI requests.Understanding the impact of FOI on local government
is central to a wider understanding of how the Act is working.

We will seek to measure FOI against the objectives set for it,
asking whether FOI has made local government more transparent, more
accountable and improved decision-making. We will also seek to measure
whether FOI has increased public understanding, participation and trust
in local government.

Local government in Britain has been the subject of wide-ranging
reform during the past decade. The study will also examine how FOI has
interacted with the new reformed model of local government. It will
seek to measure how FOI has impacted upon local political leadership,
local accountability, partnership working and local service provision.

For FOI officials and requesters

Every year the Constitution Unit has conducted surveys of local government officials who work in Freedom of Information. Many thanks to the 104 FOI officers who responded to our latest survey which covers the year 2010. The reports from this survey are available to download here:

This year's survey report finds:

The number of requests made to English local councils has increased by 20 per cent from 2009 to 2010.

We estimate that 197,773 requests were made to English local councils in 2010, at a total cost of £31.6 million (averaging £159.80 per request).

There are big differences in request volumes depending on council type: District councils receive only a third of the volume of requests that county councils and London boroughs receive.

There are wide differences in some compliance indicators among council
types: rates of fully disclosing information, withholding information,
and hours taken to process requests differ markedly.

All council types improved their performance in answering requests on time.

Please note: the corrected version of the survey updates data in tables 12, 13, 15, 16, where originally the incorrect number of requests received by metropolitan and unitary councils was displayed. The percentage columns were correct however and our findings have not changed. We apologise for this error.

Requesters

Have you made a Freedom of Information request to a local authority in England? We are currently undertaking a study of the impact of FOI upon English local government, and an important part of the evaluation process is gathering the
experiences and opinions of FOI requesters. Any information
you provide will be handled in accordance with the privacy policy
explained in the survey.